George A. Sissel, chairman and CEO of Ball Corp., has been awarded the Distinguished Engineering Alumni Award by the University of Colorado at Â鶹¹ÙÍø.
The award, presented by the College of Engineering and Applied Science at its 34th annual Engineering Alumni Banquet on April 16, recognizes alumni of the college who have distinguished themselves through their outstanding personal qualities, knowledge and significant contributions to their fields.
Sissel was recognized in the Industry and Commerce category for his contributions over 29 years at Ball Corp., a successful Fortune 500 company in the aerospace and food and beverage packaging industries.
Sissel joined Ball in 1970 as group counsel for the Aerospace Group in Â鶹¹ÙÍø. He earned his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering at CU-Â鶹¹ÙÍø in 1958, served in the U.S. Navy until 1963 and then earned a law degree from the University of Minnesota in 1966. He combined his engineering and legal educations to assist the highly technical operation in a broad spectrum of legal affairs.
In 1972, he was promoted to general counsel at Ball's corporate headquarters, then located in Muncie, Ind. He subsequently served as corporate secretary, senior vice president, president and chairman. Sissel recently returned to Colorado with Ball's corporate headquarters, which relocated to Broomfield in 1998.
As Ball's chief executive officer, Sissel has restructured the company by divesting its long-standing glass business and initiating a new business segment, the PET beverage bottle. He significantly expanded the international packaging business and most recently engineered the acquisition of the Reynolds Metal Co.
Sissel attended the Sloan School of Management Program for Senior Executives at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is a member of the American Bar Association, the Colorado Bar Association and the Indiana Bar Association. He also serves on several boards of directors and advisory boards, including the Can Manufacturers Institute, the National Association of Manufacturers, the Colorado Association of Commerce and Industry, the CU-Â鶹¹ÙÍø Engineering Advisory Council and the CU-Denver College of Business Advisory Board.
Five other awards were presented in the categories of Government Service, Industry and Commerce, Private Practice and Research and Invention at the annual awards banquet. Recipients were nominated by their colleagues and selected for the awards by the Engineering Advisory Council of the college.
About 23,000 students have earned engineering degrees from the college, but few attain this honor. DEAA winners represent less than 1 percent of the total number of graduates.